A quartet of QUT rugby players are soaking up pre-Olympic excitement in France as they represent Australia at the World University Championships Rugby Sevens this week.
QUT students Harrison Martin (Bachelor of Nursing) and Finn Johnstone (Bachelor of Secondary Education) are competing in the national men’s side, while Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology student Sophie Duff and recent Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) graduate Meg Gemmell are in the women’s team.
Ms Gemmell said she’d always dreamed of representing her country in rugby.
“I completed my degree end of last year and was balancing uni, rugby and work. I was lucky enough to have the support of the QUT Elite Athlete Program and my workplace to be able to juggle everything, ” Ms Gemmell said.
She is currently working part-time at Aurecon while training with the Qld Reds/QAS 7s program.
“Once I’m back in Australia I will keep training for selection into the Aussie A team and for Queensland in the Next Gen 7s comp.”
Ms Duff said she had never been to France and was looking forward to playing against countries she had never played before.
She has plenty of international experience already, having been on a leave of absence from her QUT studies in Semester 1.
“I have been living in Japan for the past five months playing rugby,” she said.
After the current championships she will join Australia A in a competition where they will play Australia, Fiji, and Japan to help them with their Olympic preparations.
Ms Duff said she had an incredible support system around her at uni and away from uni, that helped her balance her studies and rugby.
“QUT and the Elite Athlete Program have been incredible at helping me with my degree.”
Mr Martin also found the Elite Athlete Program initiatives helpful, such as sports-oriented workshops that made sure athletes had the tools they needed to compete at their best.
“It is a challenge to balance part-time nursing studies and rugby, but good planning helps keep stress levels down.
“The goal is to train hard and have a successful tournament with the Uniroos,” he said.
Mr Johnstone was also aiming for a successful Uniroos campaign, against countries including France, Spain, Japan, Argentina and India.
“It means a lot to have the opportunity to represent my country in some degree – it’s one of those things you always want to do,” he said.
The 2024 FISU World University Championship Rugby Sevens are being held in Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France near Marseille, until June 12.
